As satirist David Sedaris said about visiting the Louvre, "Do people look back and remember the experience of standing in front of a painting?" Wouldn't you rather riffle through someone else's mail at the Dennis Severs House or laugh yourself silly at the Museum of Comedy? That's why I love London's small museums. Unlike bigger institutions that deal in generalities - the great works of, the masterpieces by - these smaller options reveal the secrets and stories of specific Londoners, both real and imagined, who have made this city great.

Best small museum for: MTV Cribs addicts

Stepping into the Arab Hall, you'd be excused for expecting a fez-wearing shopkeeper to hand you a glass of mint tea. Down a quiet side street in Holland Park, Leighton House appears to be quite a standard-looking Victorian townhouse. Yet, so over-the-top were Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir Frederic Leighton's interiors that even his biographer questioned his Britishness, sure he must have some of that dastardly "foreign" blood running through his veins. Maybe it was the ceramic-tiled walls, gilt-painted dome, or the stained-glass windows that caused all the fuss. Whatever it was, it proves bling was a thing in London as early as the 1830s.

Best small museum for: Architecture addicts

Studies have shown that clutter drives creativity. If this is true then no wonder Regency architect John Soane was so successful. Known as the master of space and light, every inch of his Neo-Classical townhouse is packed with books, prints, statues, columns and art works, even a sarcophagus in the crypt. The genius is in how it all fits together harmoniously, especially the art gallery. It's hard not to stand there open-mouthed as layer upon layer of works by Hogarth, Piranesi, Canaletto are revealed as wall after wall is peeled back like an onion.

Best small museum for: Lovers of Baroque art

In the early 1800s, art enthusiast Sir Francis Bourgeois instructed that his entire collection be turned into a gallery open to the public, handpicking architect John Soane to create the Dulwich Picture Gallery from scratch. Look up, and you can see for yourself the innovative techniques Soane used to bathe the whole gallery in sunlight, which became the prototype for all galleries to this day. Still, don't forget to look down too, to see the great Baroque masterpieces that line the walls and the mausoleum Soane designed for his friend and patron.

Best small museum for: Immersive experience devotees

When stepping through the door, you are expected to speak only in a whisper so as not to disturb the (fictional) Jervis family. Welcome to one of the quirkiest museums in London. Dennis Sever bought the East London Georgian 10-room townhouse in the 1970s, saving it from demolition. He then restored it in his own concoction of Georgian/Regency/Victorian interior design and called it "still-life drama." The whole place is a mess - a wonderfully fantastic, dust-covered, candle-lit, spider-web strewn mess. Beds are unmade, fires lit, sweetmeats half-eaten, jelly moulds melting and secret notes scrawled in quill pen hidden under books for visitors to discover. Ten points if you find the Will and Kate royal wedding commemorative mug.

Best small museum for: Would-be doctors and nurses

Next time you take two aspirin, you should give a little thanks to Sir Henry Wellcome. Not only did he invent the pill form as we know it, but he was also a voracious collector of all things 'medical' in the hopes of creating a Museum of Man. Antique skulls and body parts, fake arms and legs, drug paraphernalia, creepy-looking medical instruments, and the pièce de résistance, Napoleon's toothbrush, are all now housed within the monumental building that Wellcome designed for his 100,000 plus bits. The Wellcome Collection proves the great strides we've made in the medical world in such a short time.

Best small museum for: Murder mystery fiends and Cumberpeople

It's easy to forget that Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character whilst riffling through his objets intimes. From his lab to his loo, The Sherlock Holmes Museum has taken great care to recreate Holmes and Watson's living quarters exactly as Conan Doyle described them. Even if you haven't read the entire Sherlock oeuvre, it thrills to see the iconic Meerschaum pipe in its ashtray and the deerstalker cap on the peg awaiting their owner's return. Where is this museum, you might ask? It's elementary, of course - 221b Baker Street.

Best small museum for: Grumpy teens in need of a reality check

Before Geldof and Band Aid, George Handel of Messiah fame was performing the first ever charity concerts to support the newly inaugurated Foundling Hospital. In 1739, Captain Thomas Coram was granted a Royal Warrant to set up the first establishment in London to take in abandoned children. The Foundling Museum tells not only his story but also those of the children left there. The display of 'Foundling tokens' alone can break your heart: these seemingly random objects were pinned to each child by their suffering mother before handing them over to the Foundling Hospital's care. They were then kept as identification in case she ever returned - though, unfortunately, that usually didn't happen.

Best small museum for: English garden partiers

On his Grand Tour of the Veneto in the 1720s, the third Earl of Burlington had come across Renaissance Architect Palladio's masterpiece, La Rotonda, and wanted one for himself. Unfortunately, Palladio had died centuries before, but that didn't kill the Earl's desire. He called in architect-of-the-moment William Kent to create Chiswick House on the outskirts of London. Once completed, the building and its gardens became party central for the Lord and all his friends, and was considered one of the best examples of Neo-Palladian architecture in Britain. There's no need for an invitation to frolic in the garden now; pack yourself a picnic and take the tube down to Chiswick Gardens after Easter when they open for the summer.

Best small museum for: Anyone in need of a chuckle

Can you truly understand a culture without knowing what makes its people laugh? The Museum of Comedy is on a mission to acquaint us all with the ingredients that, when combined, make up the British sense of humour, one Ronnie at a time. More reference library then proper museum, it's a repository of seemingly every book, DVD, VHS and LP that could possibly make you laugh - literally hours and hours of non-stop silliness. Make sure you have a couple of hours to kill, then sit yourself down, kick off your shoes and let the fun begin. By the end of the visit, you'll be squawking Monty Python's Parrot Sketch by heart.

Best small museum for: World War II buffs

You would never know it was there, but that was the whole point. A tiny entrance leads you down a rabbit hole to a warren of rooms that were previously the Cabinet War Rooms. These claustrophobic quarters would be the home to hundreds of government operatives during the six long years of World War II. The Nazis could have wiped them out with one bomb but, thankfully for all of us, that never occurred. Churchill called the hidden underground headquarter "the room from which I will lead the war," and that's just what he did - to victory.